|
Event
Dwell - in Morristown, NJ
Lauren Welliehausen, Soprano
Christopher Dylan Herbert, Baritone
Giuseppe Fusco, Clarinet
Littman String Quartet
Program:
Franz Schubert: The Shepherd on the Rock
Clint Edwards: Hiraeth* (2018), Song Cycle for Soprano and String Quartet
Clint Edwards: Dwell* (2019), Chamber Piece for Soprano, Baritone and String Quartet
*with Poet Phoebe Reeves
Clint Edwards, Lauren Welliehausen and Phoebe Reeves all grew up together in Ballston Spa, NY. They all graduated from Ballston Spa High School and went on to study music in collegeexcept Phoebe jumped ship and became an English major instead.
Now, they have reunited to create and perform a pair of art-song cycles inspired by their childhood home. It began when Lauren, a soprano who now lives in Germany with her family, asked Clint to write something special for her. Clint called Phoebe and asked if she'd like to collaborate with him on an art song. That art song become "Hiraeth," a twenty-minute song cycle for soprano and string quartet, which premiered in Germany in June of 2018.
The word Hiraeth is a Welsh word with no easy translation. It is a certain kind of longing for home or the romanticized past. The Adirondack Mountains, the many lakes like Lake George and the many natural springs in the region give the cycle its foundation. The poems describe the elements, the seasons, the longing to have found a place with the feeling of having arrived "at home".
Building on the success of "Hiraeth," Clint and Phoebe went to work on a second piece, this time for soprano, baritone, and string quartet. "Dwell" explores the town of Ballston Spa in its earliest years, through the eyes of a colonial woman and her garden. It is also haunted by the voice of this woman's descendant as he travels there in an attempt to understand his past and those who came before. Like "Hiraeth" before it, much of the texture and imagery comes from the natural world and the landscapes that surround people's daily lives. Dwell asks us to consider the difference between knowing something and experiencing it, and to think about the ways in which the plant world inhabits time differently than we do. When weve lost what bridges us with our past, that natural world is there to heal the breach.
|
|
 |
LocationThe Presbyterian Church in Morristown (Parish House) (View)
65 South Street
Morristown, NJ 07960
United States
Categories
Contact
| Owner: Dwell |
| On BPT Since: Sep 11, 2019 |
| |
| Clint Edwards |
|
|
